Impeachment Problems

1. In February 1868, President Andrew Johnson was impeached by the United States House of Representatives. That was __________ years ago.

2. If a federal official is impeached by the House of Representatives, there is a trial in the Senate. If 2/3 of the senators vote for conviction, the official is removed from office.
There are two senators from each state. There were 54 senators when Andrew Johnson was impeached. That means there were __________ states at that time.

3. Johnson was acquitted (found not guilty) when the guilty votes fell one vote short of the number needed for conviction. All senators voted.

How many senators voted to convict? __________

How many voted to acquit? __________

4. President Clinton was impeached on December 19, 1998. His trial began on January 7, 1999. There are now 50 states in the United States. How many senators will judge Clinton? __________

5. President Clinton and his team of lawyers are working to keep him in office. They hope that at least __________ senators will decide that he should not be convicted. (Assuming all senators will vote.)

6. If the president is convicted, he is immediately removed from office. The Senate would then have to take a separate vote to ban him from ever holding public office again. That vote only requires a majority (more than half) to pass. How many senators make a majority of all the senators? __________

Sources:

Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia

CNN Interactive - An impeachment trial primer: what you need to know
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/01/06/p rimer/